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Gamchen Volcano | John Seach
Sopka Khamchenskaya, Yuzhny Gamchen
Kamchatka, Russia
54.973 N, 160.702 E
summit elevation 2576 m
Complex volcano
Gamchen is located 110 km south of Bezymianny volcano in eastern Kamchatka. Gamchen volcanic range has a north–south orientation, which contains four Holocene volcanoes (Gamchen, Vysoky, Komarov and Barany).
Gamchen volcano consists of three Late Pleistocene cones and one Holocene cone. Barany (Baranii) is a stratovolcano formed 3600 years ago, and produced the most recent lava flows.
Yuzhny Gamchen
Yuzhny Gamchen is a cone like volcano 2576 m high and forms the summit of Gamchen volcano. The volcano contains a base 4.5 x 7 km wide and covers and area of 30 sq km. The relative height of the cone is 600 m in the north and 1500 m in the south. The volume of erupted material is 15 cubic km.
Severny Gamchen
Severny Gamchen is a stratovolcano with a height of 2300 m, and a relative height of 880 m. The basement diameter is 3 x 7 km covering an area of 21 sq km. The volume of ejected material is 8 cubic km. The summit of Gamchen contains a series of thin lava flows and a destroyed crater.
Eruption Hazards
Eruption hazards at Gamchen volcano include eruptions from the summit crater, formation of flank cones, and extrusion of a lava dome at the volcano base.
Further reading
Ponomareva V V, Melekestsev I V, Dirksen O V, 2006. Sector collapses and large landslides on late Pleistocene-Holocene volcanoes in Kamchatka, Russia. J. Volcanol. Geotherm. Res., 158: 117-138.
Andreev V I, Litasov N E, Puzankov Y M, 1988. Radioactivity of the basalt-dacite and andesite suites of the Gamchen volcanotectonic structure. Vulc Seism, 7: 219-233
Gamchen Volcano Eruptions
1050 BC?, 1650 BC?